Exploring Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io
on Just $615,000 a Day (Source: Space News)
The principal investigator behind a proposal to explore Jupiter’s moon
Io is in such a hurry to get there that he is content to develop the
robotic mission for about half the money the planetary science
community said NASA should spend to explore the volcano-laden Jovian
satellite.

“My thinking now is Discovery is the best bet,” Alfred McEwen,
professor of planetary geology at the University of Arizona and
principal investigator for the Io Volcano Observer (IVO), told
SpaceNews in a recent interview. Discovery is the smaller of NASA’s two
competitively selected planetary mission lines, with costs capped at
$450 million not including launch. New Frontier missions, which launch
less frequently, are capped at $1 billion. (6/15)

Harris, exactEarth Aim To Ride Iridium
Next to Growth in AIS (Source: Space News)
The partnership between exactEarth of Canada and Harris Corp. of the
United States to place maritime data-collection payloads on 58 Iridium
Next low-orbiting satellites is structured so that each company
benefits from the other’s commercial success, according to exactEarth.
The companies announced a strategic partnership in which Harris will
use exactEarth-patented technology to mount maritime ship-monitoring
payloads on 58 next-generation Iridium mobile communications
satellites. (6/16)

How to Bolster Space Exploration: Get
Religious Groups Onboard (Source: Space.com)
To broaden support for space exploration, advocates should consider
approaching religious groups – especially in settings that are familiar
to that religion, a new study suggests. "While there is growing
interest in the intersection of religion and space, little to no
scholarship has examined how religious belonging, behavior, and belief
could shape views of humanity's future in space—and by extension, our
actual future in space," wrote Joshua Ambrosius, a political science
researcher.

Ambrosius, who identifies as an evangelical Protestant, decided to
tackle this paper after reading a blog post by creationist Ken Ham that
talked in part about the "desperate and fruitless search for
extraterrestrial life," in Ham's words. To Ambrosius, Ham's post
signaled that religion may be important for how people think about
space; specifically, it shows how religious skepticism of science can
even extend into the universe.

Among the groups surveyed, it was his own – evangelicals – that
Ambrosius found were least knowledgeable about and interested in space
exploration. Meanwhile, those of the Jewish faith and Eastern
traditions appeared to know the most and express the most interest.
(6/15)

NASA Conducts Test of SLS Main
Stage Engine (Source: Space News)
Tests of the main-stage engine for NASA’s planned Space Launch System
(SLS) heavy-lift rocket continued at the Stennis Space Center in
Mississippi June 11 as the agency fired up an RS-25 engine for the
third time this year.

In an online post, NASA said it test-fired an RS-25 for 500 seconds on
the A-1 test stand at Stennis. The latest hot-fire follows a 450-second
test on May 28 that was the first for the RS-25 since Jan. 9. After the
January test, NASA shut down the test stand to fix defects in its fuel
lines. (6/15)

SpaceX Is Building Elon Musk's
Hyperloop (Source: Motherboard)
SpaceX is building a hyperloop, Elon Musk's fantastical, futuristic
transport tube capable of moving people and freight at speeds of 760
miles per hour.

The company is building a one- to three-mile-long hyperloop test track
outside its Hawthorne, California headquarters with plans to test the
technology within a year, according to documents obtained by
Motherboard (embedded below). It's the first time that Musk, who
conceived of the hyperloop, has been involved with any concrete plans
to actually build it. (6/15)

Huntsville Studies Possibility of
Dream Chaser Landings at Airport (Source: Made in Alabama)
Huntsville International Airport could become the first commercial
airport to handle landings of the Dream Chaser, the spaceplane being
developed by Sierra Nevada Corp. for supply trips to the International
Space Station and other missions. At the Paris Air Show, Huntsville
leaders announced they have launched preliminary studies to assess the
possibility of Dream Chaser landings at the city’s airport.

The initial inquiry will focus on environment factors such as the
whether the Dream Chaser is compatible with the infrastructure at
Huntsville International Airport. Sierra Nevada is advancing the Dream
Chaser in the current NASA competition to supply cargo to the
International Space Station. Sierra Nevada also plans to operate the
vehicle on other missions, tailored to a variety of U.S. and
international customers. (6/15)

Sex in Space is Going to be Way
Different Than it is on Earth (Source: Business Insider)
It's not something most of us spend any time thinking about, but
gravity is pretty critical for sex. Getting it on in a zero g
environment might sound kind of hot (PornHub certainly seems to think
so), but most experts who have spent time thinking through the
logistics have a different opinion.

"One of the things that gravity helps us do is stay together, so sex in
microgravity might actually be more difficult because you’re going to
have to make sure that you’re always holding each other so you don’t
drift apart," Paul Wolpe, a senior bioethicist at NASA, told VICE.
(6/16)

Woman Won't Give Birth on Mars
(Source: Telegraph)
A woman who wanted to be the first person to give birth on Mars is
staying on Earth. Maggie Lieu won a spot as one of the 100 finalists in
the Mars One astronaut selection competition, and openly talked about
becoming the mother of the first Martian baby. However, she said she's
dropping out of the Mars One competition, without providing an
explanation. "Still I wish them the best of luck," she wrote. (6/15)

Comet Lander Reaches Out Again
(Source: BBC)
The Philae comet lander made a second, brief, contact with controllers
late Sunday night. The three short transmissions, each only 10 seconds
long, were not as long as mission officials hoped, but demonstrated
that the lander was still in good health after an initial transmission
late Saturday. ESA may alter the orbit of Rosetta, which serves as a
relay, to improve communications with the lander. Scientists hope to
resume scientific operations of the lander after a seven-month hiatus.
(6/16)

Brazil Says U.S. and Russia are
Competing to Support Alcantara Spaceport (Source: Reuters)
Brazilian officials claim that the U.S. and Russia are competing to
cooperate with Brazil on satellite launches from that nation. Brazil is
seeking a new partner to replace Ukraine for a launch site at
Alcantara, near the Equator. A Brazilian source said the country was
considering working with either the U.S. or Russia to support launches
there, although the report didn't specify what American launch vehicle
might use the Brazilian spaceport, or if another form of cooperation
was under consideration. Past proposals for similar partnerships
between the U.S. and Brazil have foundered on export control concerns.
(6/15)

Few Tickets Left to Meet John Travolta
at KSC (Source: Florida Today)
If you want to meet John Travolta next month, you'd better hurry. As of
Monday, only five tickets are left to attend the star-studded
ShareSpace gala July 18 at Kennedy Space Center with the superstar,
Linn LeBlanc, executive director of Buzz Aldrin's ShareSpace
Foundation. (6/15)

Budgetary ‘Gimmicks’ Prompt Threat to
Veto Defense Spending Bill (Source: Space News)
The White House has threatened to veto the defense spending bill for
2016 over provisions in the House version that the administration says
are “gimmicks” being used to pay for a several programs, including
missile warning satellites, that otherwise would be subject to
congressionally imposed federal spending caps. (6/16)

Embraer Adding 150 Jobs on Space Coast
(Source: Florida Today)
Embraer Aero Seating Technologies announced this morning that will
invest $3.5 million and create 150 jobs in North Brevard County. Gov.
Rick Scott made the announcement at the 51st International Paris Air
Show at Enterprise Florida pavilion.

"Embraer's footprint in Florida continues to grow and we are excited to
announce this additional investment and creation of new jobs in our
state," Scott said in a statement. "By removing the sales tax on
manufacturing equipment last year, we are signaling to businesses
across the world that Florida has a competitive advantage over other
locations, and companies like Embraer know that our state is the best
place to grow and create jobs."

The new facility will allow the company to expand its production of
seating solutions for various Embraer products. Up to now, Embraer has
focused most of its growth at Melbourne International Airport and local
officials welcomed the news that North Brevard is getting some
attention. (6/15)

Lockheed Martin Adding 100 Missile
Jobs at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Lockheed Martin announced it was expanding its Brevard operation at the
Cape Canaveral Spaceport and adding 130 new jobs. The new jobs will
support the U.S. Navy's Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile program.
As a strategic missile prime contractor for the Navy, Lockheed Martin
now employs more than 500 people at Cape Canaveral to support the
nation's submarine-based strategic program. (6/15)

Deep in Space, Corner of No and Where
(Source: Space Review)
In a month, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will fly past the dwarf
planet Pluto, the first spacecraft to visit this distant world. Dwayne
Day ponders the effect the spacecraft flyby will have not just on
science, but culture and policy as well. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2772/1
to view the article. (6/15)

The Commercial Crew Crunch
(Source: Space Review)
While NASA has argued it needs full funding for its commercial crew
program to keep it on schedule for first flights in 2017, House and
Senate appropriations bills cut the request by hundreds of millions of
dollars. Jeff Foust reports on the disconnect and its implications for
the agency and the two companies under contract. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2771/1
to view the article. (6/15)

Legal Implications of an Encounter
with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (Source: Space Review)
In the event that humans detect a signal from an extraterrestrial
intelligence, or the more unlikely event of a physical encounter with
them, how would the legal system be prepared to deal with
repercussions? Babak Shakouri Hassanabadi discusses how existing
treaties and interpretations of international law might apply in such
scenarios. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2770/1
to view the article. (6/15)

Study Begins to Land Dream Chaser
Spacecraft in Huntsville (Source: Huntsville Chamber)
A coalition of community leadership - including the City of Huntsville,
Madison County, City of Madison, Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of
Commerce, Teledyne-Brown Engineering, the State of Alabama, the
University of Alabama in Huntsville, and the Huntsville-Madison County
Airport Authority announced plans to initiate a series of preliminary
studies to assess the feasibility of landing Sierra Nevada
Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft at Huntsville International
Airport today at the 2015 Paris Air Show. (6/15)

X-37B Still Largely Unexplained
(Source: Space Daily)
The fourth mission of the X-37B robot spaceplane is well underway. We
know much of what is happening with the flight. There's a test of a
Hall Effect thruster for the US Air Force and a set of materials
samples provided by NASA. Beyond this, little else is known.

On previous X-37B missions, there has been plenty of disclosure about
the spacecraft itself, but little talk about the payloads concealed
under its clamshell doors. This time, it's the reverse. We know a lot
about the payloads carried on board, but not much about the X-37B
itself! (6/10)

Space Florida Approves Shuttle Landing
Facility Deal (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The historic space shuttle landing facility at Kennedy Space Center
will be managed by the state of Florida for the next 30 years. The
Space Florida board voted Monday to approve a long-term, rent-free deal
to lease the 15,000-foot-long landing strip that had been used for 30
years to land space shuttles.

With no space shuttles to land there anymore, NASA has been trying to
spin off the facility for several years. Space Florida, the state's
space development agency, won the right to negotiate for a lease and
has been doing so for more than a year. For several months, NASA and
Space Florida officials have said they were close. On Monday the
agency's board voted to approve the lease. It would officially be
signed on June 22.

Space Florida wants to develop it into a horizontal launching facility
for commercial space flights. That business might be several years
away, if it develops at all, so in the meantime the state agency
expects to make it available for all sorts of uses. (6/15)

Retiring Floridian Astronaut 'In Awe'
of Future Space Missions (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
day's NASA astronauts may not have many of the adventures that
Floridian Nicole Stott encountered when she became an astronaut in
2000. Yet as she retires, Stott envies them and the space explorers to
come. Stott, 52, retired June 1 after a 27-year NASA career. That
included a time in the late 1980s and '90s as one of the KSC engineers
who made sure the space shuttles were ready to fly, followed by 15
years as an astronaut herself, flying on space shuttle Discovery in
2009 and 2011. (6/15)

Congress Poised to End USAF Legacy
Weather Satellite Program (Source: Space News)
The Senate Appropriations Committee is calling for an end to next
year's funding for the Air Force's legacy weather satellite program,
while funding accelerated development of a U.S.-made rocket engine. The
panel questioned the use of "1990s technology that the Air Force has
previously stated no longer meets its requirements." (6/15)